


baby fwuffy

by fuwaesthetic



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, summer secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26258896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuwaesthetic/pseuds/fuwaesthetic
Summary: It's the kind of unexpected he'd come to expect from Asteris Tower, home to all kinds of people searching for ways to invoke the mysterious and magical. It was bound to have a few eccentric personalities and incidents, though 'a few' had certainly grown into 'an uncountable number' in the past four years he'd been involved with the tower. Every year seemed to bring something or someone new yet just as incredibly off-the-wall as the rest of them, if not more so, but he guesses that's what gives the tower its charm.It's almost nice, knowing he'll never have a dull day.
Kudos: 14





	baby fwuffy

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhh i was so delighted to write this! this is for @candyrabits on twitter, my summer secret santa... their prompt was "a fantasy au involving nazuna (and optionally ra*bits) would be cool!!" 
> 
> i'm sorry i didn't end up including the rest of his unit but this spiraled completely out of my hands and now i'm stuck thinking about how the rest of this au would go AHHH... i really hope you enjoy it though!

As the resident assistant of Asteris Tower's Chariot floor, Nazuna knows he should be used to breaking up all manners of parties and gatherings that get out-of-hand. He knows he should be used to irate magicians who think they can catch him off-guard with some new spell they just learned, and he knows he should be used to the bitter grumbles that come after every successful dismissal. He prepares himself for them even from his own room, the edges of his suspenders digging into his shoulders as he straightens his shoulders and pulls himself to his full diminutive height.

Leo greets him with a holler and an arm around his neck, pulling him into a mess of feathers and fur. Kuro looks at him with an awkward mixture of apology, resignation, and amusement, and Nazuna counts to five before he frees himself from Leo's grip.

“Don't be mad!” Leo says, and Nazuna only has a few moments to wonder what he's not supposed to be mad about before he sees it: a baby griffon covered in downy feathers still wet from the discarded eggshell at its feet, body spotted in youth. The sigh he lets out is loud enough to startle the poor thing _and_ shake his own body, and he steps back to look at Leo properly. Leo raises his hands in a pacifying gesture, his grin peeking between his fingers. “C'mon, Nazu...! Look at her! Can you be mad at a cute li'l face like that?”

“No,” he admits, because Leo's right: he can't be mad at the little griffon – but he _can_ be mad at the people hiding her, and his expression must say as much because Leo yelps and ducks behind Kuro almost immediately.

“Kuro! Save me!”

“Nope. Sorry, Tsukinaga.” Kuro moves aside, kneeling by the griffon to (continue, Nazuna guesses?) brushing eggshell from its hide. “You're on your own this time.”

Nazuna rolls his sleeves up and grabs the edge of Leo's against-school-regulation hoodie's sleeve, stumbling forward when that isn't enough to stop the other's bolting away – he has to hiss a quick flight spell to keep himself from landing right on the griffon, sailing with too much force up towards the ceiling. Leo twists around to grab his foot, and Nazuna jerks to a stop with an _oof_.

Ten minutes later, he's sitting beside Kuro with a cup of spiced chocolate in his hands, watching Leo wiggle his fingers at the baby griffon and laugh when the small animal misses biting him. Nazuna sips the drink with a sigh, mind already cycling through how he's going to explain this to literally anyone, when the door clicks open and Natsume steps into the already crowded room.

Natsume pauses to stare at the three of them, his arms full of charts and pens, and turns a sharp look on Leo. Nazuna holds his breath; Kuro watches with interest; and no one makes a sound until Leo screeches, jerking his hand away from his opportunistic bird-cat child, and the tension snaps.

* * *

“And you expect me to believe all of THAT,” Natsume says after the explanation of _the egg was assumed to be a dud but it totally wasn't OBVIOUSLY_ is spoken into the space for the second time in an hour, the way his voice lilts intrinsic to his mother tongue. Loe nods once, and Nazuna intervenes before Natsume can open his mouth with some venom-laced remark or another.

“Leochin's telling the truth! ...Unfortunately.” He rubs his nose, sighing. “Kurochin confirmed it.”

“I don't have any reason to lie!! That should be reason enough to believe me!!”

Natsume shakes his head, muttering something under his breath, and settles beside Leo. He reaches his hand out to the griffon, letting it take a few cursory nips and nudges at him, before he rubs the side of its face.

“Well, you can't keep it HERE. I don't expect you to know anything at all about grifFONS, but they grow at an exceptionally fast RATE. By the end of the MONTH, this one'll be the size of that dog Baru's not supposed to HAVE.”

“Subaruchin has _what,_ ” Nazuna says at the same time Leo exclaims that he _knows that_ , and Nazuna kicks his heel against their room's couch. “Hold up! Subaruchin's got what in his room!?”

“Just some DOG,” Natsume replies as if it's the most ill-kept secret in the entire world. “He claims it's his familiAR, but he's not in any classes that require THAT, so I assume it's a pet he brought from HOME.” A beat, and then: “His name is Daikichi.”

“You know his _name._ ”

“What are you planning on doing with THIS?” Natsume gestures at the griffon, having clearly decided the derail in the conversation concluded, and Nazuna looks at Kuro and Leo – who, in turn, look at each other, and shrug. Natsume's nose crinkles the way it always does when he's left unsatisfied, and he carefully scoops the griffon up the way one might a cat, cradling it against his shoulder. “Very WELL. I have a few people who might be interested in handling IT, so just leave this to ME.”

“No way! I don't trust that at all, magician boy! Just who're you gonna foster Baby Fwuffy on, huh!?”

 _Baby Fwuffy._ Nazuna wishes he could believe that Leo hadn't actually named the thing, but the thought disappears as quickly as Leo stands up and points at Natsume. Natsume stares at him as he slowly stands up, petting the griffon's back just between its small, fluffy wings.

“Onto Master Wataru, of COURSE. He'd be happy to take care of IT. If I recall as WELL, you two are at least friendLY, so he'd be willing to let you see it if you so WISHED.”

“Oh.” Leo stares, the fight visibly draining out of him, and he throws his hands into the air. “Well, fine! That works! But leave her here for a little longer, okay? I was gonna write a symphony to celebrate her hatching—”

“Are you so eager to get us all in trouBLE—”

“Please keep your voices down,” Nazuna cuts in, feeling as if Leo's rising energy is the result of his draining. “Natsumechin, don't worry. I'll handle it. Leochin, Baby Fwuffy should go to Wataruchin as soon as possible so she can get used to where she'll be staying for now. Kurochin,” he continues, looking up at him, “could you grab my bag? I'll ferry her over.”

“But _I_ wanted to see her off!”

“If you're not careful with HER, you'll damage her WINGS.”

“Here y'go.” Kuro tosses him his large duffel from the bed, and Nazuna once more wishes he had enough height to just stretch and grab whatever he needs with such ease. “Take it easy, Nito. I'll keep an eye on these two while you're gone.”

“Thanks,” he replies, ignoring the twin retorts from his roommates. “I'll be right back. Come on, Natsumechin, put her in—”

* * *

Honestly, if someone had told him his day was going to go from 'dealing with noise complaints' to 'sneaking a baby griffon to the very top of the tower,' he –

No, he probably would've believed them, even just a little bit. It's the kind of unexpected he'd come to expect from Asteris Tower, home to all kinds of people searching for ways to invoke the mysterious and magical. It was bound to have a few eccentric personalities and incidents, though 'a few' had certainly grown into 'an uncountable number' in the past four years he'd been involved with the tower. Every year seemed to bring something or someone new yet just as incredibly off-the-wall as the rest of them, if not more so, but he guesses that's what gives the tower its charm.

It's almost nice, knowing he'll never have a dull day.

He's just grateful not to meet anyone until he hits the top of the stairs, signifying his arrive at the Judgment floor, and that the person he meets _is_ who he's looking for – albeit on his merry way out, a rainbow umbrella swinging on his arm and a top hat perched cartoonishly on his head. He stops as soon as he sees Nazuna, coat flair behind him the same way his hair does, as if both parts of him are surprised and happy to show it, and Nazuna tries to put the logistics of it out of his head as he opens his bag and gestures for Wataru to peer inside.

“Leochin apparently got a hold of a griffon egg from someone who thought it wasn't going to hatch and would make for a good omelet instead, and it hatched while him and Kurochin were discussing how to tell if it really was a dud or not... Natsumechin said you'd probably be interested in taking it off our hands, so I thought I'd bring her by.” Nazuna pauses, watching the griffon peer out inquisitively, then hide when one of Wataru's locks of hair wiggles at her. “Her name is Baby Fwuffy.”

“What an adorable name! It's full of love...” Wataru practically sings his words, mimicking the way Natsume'd interacted with the griffon earlier (Nazuna supposes he had to learn it from _someone_ ) and scooping it out of the bag once it climbs out a little further. “Natsume's right! I'd be happy to take her...

Worry not,” he continues, his hair wiggling like a worm to entertain the little bird-cat, “she won't stay here for long. There are some griffon preservation foundations that would love a little girl like this to raise with the rest of their brood as part of their efforts – I'll ask Eichi to get in touch with them and bring her as a donation on behalf of the tower. She'll be in good hands.”

“I'll keep Tenshouin's name out of it.” Leo, he knows, likes him well-enough, though their relationship is a little awkward – but Natsume can't stand someone so alike to him, and Nazuna closes his bag. There's nothing better than the weight being literally lifted off his shoulders. “Thanks, Wataruchin. Let us know how it goes – and let us know if we're allowed to visit. Leochin's always looking for an excuse to roam, and I'd feel much, much better knowing where he's going.”

Wataru promises to do so with a wink of his eye, and Nazuna smiles at him again before he heads back down the tower.


End file.
